Chapter 1
ONE
Keely
––––––––
TRUE TO THEIR WORD, Ayra, my Co-Executive Producer and Abbie, my Assistant Director, set everything in motion the very next day. The remainder of the main cast was called to move into Moon Manor. The crew, well-rested after a lengthy pause, was brought in and they were raring to go.
I walked through Moon Manor, my pace a little slower than usual. Each step was taken with care, and I continually found myself holding my round belly.
Now that the word was out, now that everyone knew my circumstance, I felt free to be more mindful. I didn’t have to always be the strong one.
My wanderings brought me to the sitting room with its dainty furniture and pale pink striped wallpaper. I moved on and was pleased to see the grand ballroom completely transformed. Columns had been brought in, and the ceiling was painted black, giving the room more height.
In the next room, I found a small group of actors going over their lines. They were quiet and subdued one moment, then explosive and loud the next.
Moving on, I found Susie Sweets and Ricky Stone, flew into England this morning, already settled into Moon Manor and thoroughly immersed in a scene with only the two.
In the dining hall, the very room we’d met in the previous night, I was stunned to see all the Christmas decorations gone.
The bottom third of the walls were now painted dark red with a red, gold and black floral wallpaper above that.
Three large paintings – a forest landscape, a bowl of fruit and the portrait of an important looking man – all framed in ornate gold, adorned the walls.
“Like it?” Ayra said as she came up behind me.
“When in the world did you guys do this? Did you people not sleep last night?”
She laughed. “Jai and a few guys were up very early this morning. It only took them a few hours to get the room ready.”
“Well, thank them. This is amazing.”
“I don’t want to rush you, Keely, but if you’re ready, Mr. Henry Crawford and his sister, Miss Mary Crawford are prepared to do a small scene.”
“Now?”
She nodded. “Just say the word. Cameras are already set up, lighting... the whole thing.”
For the first time in my movie making career, I wasn’t prepared. “Um. Okay. Great. Let’s go.”
While I hadn’t expected to get to work so soon, I was more than happy to get a few scenes done.
“We bought you a new director’s chair,” Abbie said as we arrived in the larger drawing room.
The chair, lower to the ground than the one I’d previously used, also had wheels.
“Honey,” I said, not wanting to appear ungrateful, but nonetheless wanting to make myself clear. “I’m pregnant, not invalid.”
She smiled. “I knew you’d be displeased, but the moment the crew learned of your condition, they went out of their way to find and purchase the chair.” She leaned in close and whispered, “They all pitched in to buy it for you.”
Somehow, I doubted her story. This was most certainly her delicate way of bringing me around to accepting the wheeled director’s chair.
“Fine,” I relented. “Please be sure to thank them all for me.”
“Already done.”
I settled into the chair, much more comfortable than my old one and Abbie handed me the script. Already opened to the pertinent page, she pointed to the specific start of the scene.
I nodded, Henry and Mary Crawford took their places, and we were on our way.
By the end of that first day, we’d filmed four short scenes: another one with Henry and Mary Crawford, two with Fanny and Edmund, and one with Fanny and Mary. We were off to a brilliant start.
*****
I AWOKE THE NEXT MORNING to a light drizzle falling on Moon Manor and knew that it would mean another day of filming interiors. It was just as well. I was hoping to get a particularly difficult group scene over and done with.
“Get the necessary cast ready for the family scene where Fanny’s coming out ball is announced by Mr. Bertram,” I told Abbie on meeting her in the hall.
“I don’t want to contradict you, Keely, but with the rain falling and threats of it falling harder still, I thought we might take advantage of the weather and shoot interiors looking out through the windows at the falling rain.”
I looked at her and considered her suggestion. After a long moment, I nodded. “Okay, tell you what. I would still like to shoot this family scene, but could you handle a small crew to shoot some of those interiors looking outward. Maybe talk to Cliff about the best way to go about it.”
“But... you won’t be there to direct it,” Abbie said.
Putting a hand to her shoulder, I smiled. “I think you know my style enough to know what I would want. I trust you, Abbie. I don’t mean to lay any additional responsibilities on you, but...”
Her face lit up. “I’m ready to take on any additional responsibility that you need me for. I’d be more than happy to take charge of these mini shoots.”
“Great. I’ll get started on this family scene and, if it’s still raining when I’m through, I’ll go find you and see what remains to be done on your end.”
“Sounds good. I’ll get the cast ready for your scene and take Jon up to shoot these small interiors with me.”
We parted ways; she to get the cast through makeup, hair and wardrobe and down to the set, and I to take a quick look at the script for this particular scene.
It would really put Darling to the test with Mr. Bertram so forthright with her as he is in this pivotal scene.
*****
DESPITE THE LARGE CREW in the room and the major part of the main cast in attendance, Darling did a wonderful job of being strong yet fragile in the scene. But as the thundering rain began to pound more and more heavily, it became impossible to continue.
“The sound of the rain is drowning out all other sounds,” my sound technician said.
I nodded. “Yeah. I suspected as much.” I turned to the cast. “Sorry, guys, but we’re going to have to take a break. The rain is quite literally drowning us out.”
“We haven’t really had the chance to rehearse this scene much,” Carl Brenner, who played Mr. Bertram, said. “Perhaps we could go over it a few times as we wait for the rain to subside.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “I’ll leave you all to it and come back.”
I hurried off in search of Abbie and her small camera crew. With the rain pounding so persistently on the windows, it was sure to make for some very dramatic footage.
On the second floor, in the room that was to be Fanny’s bedroom, I found her. Looking out the window with Jon, the camera operator, at her side, there seemed to be something of great interest outside the window.
“How are things going?”
Surprised at first by my interruption, Abbie then waved me over. “I can’t remember the last time I saw it rain like this.”
I went to her side, Jon moving aside to allow me to look out the window.
“What am I looking at exactly?” I said, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, save for the heavy rain.
Abbie pointed to the gargoyle farther down the building. “Do you see the water spouting from those?”
“Yes. Isn’t that normal?” I said.
“Indeed,” she said. “Earlier, Jon and I were in another room where, there too, the gargoyles spit out a large quantity of water. As excessive as it seemed, I do believe that is the purpose of them.”
“I’m sorry, Abbie. I don’t understand what has you so perturbed.”
She pointed to the gargoyle above us to the right and above us to the left. “Look at these. Only a few drops of water are seeping out of these two.”
“Oh,” I muttered, finally understanding her concern.
“A number of branches have broken off from those large trees,” Jon said. “I think there may be a few of them up there on the roof and the leaves are blocking the gargoyles.”
“I see. I’ll be sure to go down and let Jai know about this. But don’t worry.”
I looked up at the dripping gargoyle, more worried than I wanted to let on. “This place is old,” I muttered, more to myself than to Abbie and Jon. “It’s solid. They built these things solidly back in the day.”
But as the words came out of my mouth, a strange and ominous creaking sound startled all of us.
“What is that?” Jon said.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I think we should get out of here and head downstairs.”
The creaking sound increased followed by a thundering boom. The floor shook, the walls shook, and we could hear a loud gush of water splashing down in the next room.
We ran out of the room and into the hall, but before we could make our way to the stairs, the ceiling above us swelled and threatened to blow out.
“Back up, you guys,” Abbie called out.
The ceiling opened up and a flood of water spilled into the hall and into the room we’d just vacated. Wading through six inches of water, we backed away farther, fearing more flooding. How much more of the ceiling might fall?
The floor beneath our feet shook and soon, weaknesses in the flooring began to appear.
“We need to get out of here.”
From the other side of the pool of water, Ayra and Jai came up the stairs.
“Keely!” Ayra shouted over the gushing water. “Are you guys all right?”
“We’re fine, but the water seems to be streaming into these two rooms, and the floor is creaking like crazy.”
“We’ve already evacuated the rooms below,” Jai called out. “You guys should head back to the service stairs and come down that way.”
We did as he directed, taking the narrow stairs down through the old kitchen.
Barely an inch of water was on the floor.
But, with the sound of dripping water guiding us, we made our way to the dining hall, the water now six inches deep, and onward to the main hall where everyone stood looking at the sorry state of Moon Manor.
“How much damage is there?” I called out as I walked to them, swooshing water about with every step I took.
Cliff and Penny stood in the nearby hallway looking at the water that filled the ballroom.
“Oh, my,” I muttered. The chandeliers, the curtains, the wallpaper. Everything was ruined.
“Oh, Keely,” Penny said, tears in her eyes. “This is so awful. The drawing room, the dining hall and the front foyer are so heavily damaged.”
“I’d like to be optimistic and say that we could clean it all up,” Cliff offered. “But... honestly, I don’t think a clean-up will do the trick.”
Water continued to seep through where the ceiling met the walls. It did a good job of raising the wallpaper, strips of it hanging limp where the glue had been washed away. The sticky water then ran down the length of the wall where it pooled on the hardwood floor.
“No one was hurt, were they?” I cautiously asked.
“No. Everyone’s all right,” Penny assured me. “The crew and the cast have already run out to the guest house.”
“Okay, then I want the rest of you out of here,” I said. “We should all go out and join the others in the guest house.”
I turned to walk away and came face to face with my husband.
“Keely!” Hugh cried as he rushed to me and pulled me into his arms. “I had no idea where you were. Are you alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine. The creaking of the roof gave us ample warning of what was coming.” I looked at the damage around me. “Although, I really didn’t think it would be this bad.”
My heart pounded and I could feel a small wave of panic working its way into my mind.
“This is a disaster,” I said. My breathing grew sharp and short. “What are we supposed to do now?”
“I’m so sorry,” Ayra said as she came to join us.
Jai, standing at her side, remained quiet, his gaze cast down.
I suddenly felt awful for my unprofessional outburst. “Don’t,” I said as I reached out for Jai’s hand.
He looked up at me, a question in his eyes.
“Don’t you dare feel guilty for this. This is not your fault, Jai.
You saw the rain out there. You saw the incredible amounts of water that poured down onto Moon Manor.
I have no doubt that many other homes in the area will find themselves damaged in some way or another.
I’m just... oh poor Moon Manor. I’m just glad no one’s hurt. ”
He shook his head.
“Abbie and I were on the second floor,” I went on.
“We could see how the gargoyles were spewing water at a tremendous rate. However, there were a few that were right above us. They were blocked. Only a few drops came out of them. Jon said he saw broken branches falling onto the roof. Surely those branches damned up the water. You could not have foreseen this, Jai, nor could you have prevented it.”
“Nice try,” he said quietly. “This place is my responsibility. Keeping it in order is my responsibility. How can I not feel guilty?” He scratched his head and frowned. “Gargoyles aren’t typical to Georgian architecture. Perhaps this is why they failed.”
“Nonsense,” Cliff said. “It’s simply a stylistic choice.
Gargoyles do the job of evacuating water from the roof just fine.
Georgian homes are typically streamlined with little ornamentation, and they have simpler waterspouts, but the results are the same.
Like Keely said, if branches damned up the water, there’s little you could have done. ”
“The fact remains; the movie production is doomed now.”
“If I may,” Matt said as he stepped forward.
We all turned our eyes to him.
“I know that Moon Manor is difficult to replace, and I know that it has been your preferred working space, but if I may... I would like to offer you the services of my home, Barry Park. It would be my pleasure to have you move your film production to my home, Miss Keely. It is quite grand, even if I do say so myself. There’s plenty of room for everyone to stay and work. ”
Darling quietly came forward. “He’s right. It is quite grand.”
I looked at her, wanting more than anything to accept their offer. But I dreaded hurting Ayra and Jai’s feelings.
“Truth be told,” Darling said. “Barry Park resembles Mansfield Park much more than Moon Manor does.”
Jai stepped forward. “You both are too kind and too modest. Not only is Barry Park grand, it is, without a doubt, much grander than Moon Manor. My home could easily fit into their east wing with room to spare.”
Matt chuckled but showed no haughtiness or condescension.
I looked at Jai, then Darling, then Matt who nodded as if to incite me to take on his invitation.
“Not only would it be a pleasure,” he said, taking my hand in his. “It would also be an honor to have you, your cast and your crew come to my home.”